Lake Charles led nation in construction jobs growth in past year, more news

-Lake Charles, La., had the nation’s highest percentage increase in construction jobs among metropolitan areas between July 2013 and July 2014, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Lake Charles added 2,900 jobs over that period — a 27% increase. The Dallas-Plano-Irving and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown areas added the most construction jobs over the past year, with 9,400 and 8,900 jobs gained, respectively.

-ExxonMobilbegan planned maintenance on an FCCU at its Baytown, Texas, refinery. A company official informed the Oil & Gas Journal planned maintenance activities would continue for several weeks.

-Crude oil stockpiles declined more than expected last week as refineries maintained high capacity utilization rates, Reuters reports. An industry analyst wrote in a report that refiners are “processing the hell out of crude right now.” EIA data showed refiners added 124,000 barrels per day to crude runs, using 93.5% of total capacity.

-The California Senate passed a bill aimed at minimizing methane leaks from intrastate natural gas pipelines and reducing natural gas emissions from pipeline facilities. The bill has already been passed by the state’s assembly and will now be taken up by Gov. Jerry Brown.

-Calpine continued to divest pieces of its southeast U.S. portfolio, agreeing to sell a power plant in Florida to Duke Energy. Calpine in April agreed to sell six power plants in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina to LS Power. Earlier this week Calpine struck a deal to buy Exelon’s Fore River Generating Station in North Weymouth, Mass.